Food inflation in the UK has slowed to 13.4% in July this year, from 14.6% in the previous month, according to data posted by British Retail Consortium (BRC).

The figure is below the three-month average rate of 14.5% and is the lowest level since December 2022.

During the month, inflation on fresh food inflation slowed to 14.3% from 15.7% in June.

This is the lowest level since November 2022 and is below the three-month average rate of 15.7%.

BRC data also revealed that non-food inflation eased from 5.4% in June to 4.7% in July. It is below the three-month average rate of 5.3% and is the lowest since December 2022.

In addition, ambient food inflation decreased to 12.3% in July from 13% in June. Annual shop price inflation decelerated to 7.6% in July from 8.4% the previous month.

British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “These figures give cause for optimism, but further supply chain issues may add to input costs for retailers in the months ahead.

“Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative and subsequent targeting of Ukrainian grain facilities, as well as rice export restrictions from India, are dark clouds on the horizon. We expect some global commodity prices to rise again as a result and food prices will be slower to fall. Retailers continue working hard to keep falling prices on track.”

Recently, new research by the BRC revealed that incidents of theft have increased by 27% across ten of the largest cities in the UK.